


Gunshot Residue

by ExtraCheesePlease



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-16 13:58:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16087523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraCheesePlease/pseuds/ExtraCheesePlease
Summary: Her desires were simple. Her dream right in front of her and she waited for it her whole life. How this managed to happen was beyond her, her hard work being taken away from her by androids.  Working with Gavin Reed was not on her list but fate had a different plan. Could they finally embrace this partnership or would it end in chaos? Since their past doesn't lend a helping hand but it will reach a point where they would have to make a decision.





	1. One

Ivy Lawton leaned on the steel rails near the captain's glass office. She had been waiting for quite some time since he had summoned her. It was the thing she had on her mind and she was sure of it. It had to happen one way or another and she made sure it would go on today. Because today was her big day. She glanced around the slightly crowded office, it was early and only some officers came and were now sharing the warm company of a coffee they brought on the way or from the station's break room. She had thought about getting one herself but knew the caffeine won't do her good with all the excitement she was feeling. The captain had already informed her of his decision of promoting her in the ranks. Her start at the academy was a little rusty but she worked on not letting that rust keep her work from shining and attracting her superior's attention and this was it. Her heart was racing in her chest and her stomach churned with anticipation, she wished for that door to fling open so she could finally put this behind her.

"Ivy"

A man said and she looked to his direction and saw it was Gavin Reed. One of the unpopular guys around here. He wore a hooded jacket and a grey shirt today but then again that was most of what he wore. Ivy looked away but replied to him.

"Gavin"

"You're here early"

"I'd say the same to you"

Ivy said and now looked at the much taller man in front of her. He was probably here to leave behind some smartass remark or to even poke her buttons for no reason. Now she had to guess which would it be.

"Captain says he needed to speak to me and dragged me earlier than usual"

"Oh? What about?"

She said, turning her eyes to the larger man who seemed amused enough for piquing her interest.

"Now you're interested"

"You know I am. What was it? A new case? Oh, is it homicide or robbery?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna leave you with that"

Gavin shot her a satisfied smirk and started to walk away, Ivy watched his back and felt annoyance at how he was acting. She considered yelling back to him but decided against it. He always liked the attention and everyone in the station knew that.

"Lawton!"

Fowler's deep voice filled the sleepy room, making one officer abruptly wake up from his short work nap and spill his coffee on the floor. Ivy heard him curse before she walked up the stairs to the office where her future will be written. She took in a deep breath, ready for everything and anything. The captain sat down on his chair and scanned the young woman in front of him that stood with a good posture, waiting for him to talk. She thought about taking this opportunity to thank him for this chance.

"Sir, I-"

"Things have changed, Lawton. Things that I couldn't control. These deviants cases have risen by double in just the past week"

"I'm aware of that, sir"

"We're doing everything in our power to deal with this mess but it's not as easy as we thought"

Fowler got up from his comfortable chair and put his hands behind his back, looking at the numerous computer screens on the wall that held records and other documents related to other cases. Ivy waited for him to once again speak so her heart could return to its normal speed.

"Dozens of missing android reports first and now this? Deviants? What has the world come to? When I took this position, never have I thought that I'd be sitting here running in circles over deviants"

"Captain, with all due respect, maybe you just need the right people on the case. It's a matter of abilities. You've got Lieutenant Anderson on it and-"

"Yes. The right people on the case. That's correct, Lawton. I'm glad you said that" 

Ivy was instantly pleased with where this conversation is going.

"CyberLife have reached out to help us with the ongoing investigation and we've accepted their help"

"CyberLife? But aren't they the ones who made the androids?"

"Exactly. So you can see their involvement in this. They wanna find out what's turning their androids into deviants and we want these robot cases to go down. It's a win win situation"

"Sir.. I-"

"Which brings us to the part of why I told you to come, Lawton. I know I said I'll pair you up with Anderson on the deviant case but under everything going on, I've decided that it would be better if the android sent by CyberLife to work with Anderson. I haven't told him that so I'd appreciate if you kept it a secret for now"

Ivy's eyebrows furrowed and she felt cheated out. She couldn't lose control in front of the captain. so,she swallowed her anger and tried to address him in the most calmest way she could muster.

"But, sir, I was supposed to be working with Anderson. I worked hard for this. It's not fair. I'm sorry but why does this android get my spot?"

"Because he'd be more efficient with the investigation. We've been reassured that we've got their best one"

"But captain!" Ivy felt her voice rise up and fill the room. She immediately regained control of her emotions. He raised an eyebrow that she knew was a warning and followed that by clearing her throat and speaking in a more calmer manner.

"Cap-"

"I understand you're upset but under the current circumstances, it's all we can do. So, I decided to partner you up with someone else"

He interrupted her, speaking in relaxed tone. Ivy just shook her head and looked at her shoes, feeling as if the sky came falling down and crashed her world. She felt an immense amount of disappointment that prevented her from responding to her captain.

"You'll be working with Reed until further notice"

Her head immediately shot up and she looked at the large man in absolute shock.

"But sir, Gavin is an insufferable prick"

"I know. His last partner said the same thing. But since I'm your captain, you'll work with him for now and that's final"

"Captain Fowler, please! You can't do that to me"

"Lawton, It's done. I need a pair of detectives on active hours to investigate the cases that don't involve deviants because there are some human dirtbags out there still. And you two will do exactly that"

"Ca-"

"That's enough. You can go"

Fowler sat back down and waved his hand to dismiss her, turning his attention to the files on his desk. Ivy was huffing steam and walked out, closing the door behind her. The station had become alive for the brief time that she was inside. She knew there was no way she'd see herself working with Gavin as he was a ticking time-bomb threatening to explode into a mess of profanities and insults. 

Ivy cursed under her breath. She cursed androids and how the world was depending on them. She never saw this coming, androids replacing them in the police force. She headed towards the break room and kicked the table, trying to channel her anger one way or the other and that kick was all she could do.

"Hey, easy on the table there. You wouldn't wanna break it"

She turned around and saw it was Chris, a fellow officer, coming to collect his morning coffee. Ivy stood up straight and pretended as if that didn't happen.

"You want a cup?"

"Only if you put some whiskey in it. Or.. just give me the whiskey"

"Don't know if it's a good idea for you to drink in the station but i'll just make it a black"

He walked over and handed her a cup of hot coffee. Ivy accepted the cup and let out a heavy sigh, attracting a concerned look from Chris.

"So.. Aren't you gonna tell me what's up?"

Ivy didn't move her eyes from the cup, letting her unpleasant thoughts rush in her mind as she remained silent. Chris was one of the officers she had come to respect. Not only her, most of the guys in station were friendly with him since he was friendly as well. 

"Fowler fucked me over and partnered me with Gavin"

She didn't see his facial expression but she had a good idea about what it would be. Surprise? Maybe shock.

"Gavin? Damn, Ivy. I don't know what to tell you"

"I know. I'll probably quit after a week. That's if I didn't put a bullet in his head til then"

Chris chuckled in amusement and enjoyed a few sips from his coffee before he responded.

"I know it's hard but at least you'll be working homicide. Didn't you want that?"

"I did.. but not like this"

"Well, you can't have it all"

Ivy traced the cup with her fingers as she processed what Chris told her. He did have a point but it was still a hard pill to swallow. She could've had it all.

"Weren't you supposed to work with Hank?"

"Oh, yeah. I could've been living the life, working with Hank Anderson. The one who worked the Red Ice Task Force and was great at that. He was top of his class and he even worked alongside Fowler. Ugh, Chris, do you know what it would be like if I got to work with someone like him?"

"I have a thought or two about that"

"but my life is ruined now"

Ivy leaned her head on the table, slightly hitting it with her head. Chris laughed and rubbed her shoulder gently, pulling her up from the pain she was about to give her head.

"It'll be fine. Look, maybe this a test period"

"You think so?"

Ivy lifted her head and gently rubbed her forehead as she looked at the officer. Now grabbing the coffee and accepting to drink it without the addition of alcohol. 

"Yeah, sometimes the captain tests people. Maybe he wants to see how you'll deal with Gavin"

"I hope you're right, Chris"

Ivy said and sipped the coffee, accepting the caffeine into her tired system. Crossing her fingers that this dilemma would only last for a few days or she won't, dramatically thinking.


	2. Two

Two days of successfully avoiding Reed went by smoothly and that was possible only by no new cases popping up and Ivy actually started to think that it would go fine. Better than she expected. Talking to the captain proved no progress, like he was fixed on putting them together. The more she complained, the more he insisted, saying Gavin could use a fixed partner so he could learn how to deal with others. Now thinking about actually dealing with others, Fowler would always complain about Anderson's disciplinary folder but never said a thing about Gavin's, assuming his foul attitude could only fit in a single folder. She couldn't help but think about that. 

She was relaxing in the warmth of her couch and prepared to instruct the TV to switch on and see if there were any news. There were a few reports of androids being missing or being violent, she sat up and watched the news report with concentration, thinking about the time where only humans did felonies but now they had to worry about androids too since humans were too busy shoving their faces into fistfuls of powder. Red Ice, to be specific, it was reported that the numbers using it had went down significantly after Hank Anderson took the lead of the task force but it was still active in the underground of Detroit and that was all she thought about for the night.

She started her day in the break room, resisting the tempting urge to boost her coffee with whiskey, perhaps it would numb her and make this day go faster but eventually decided against it since it might not go so well. There was nothing sure in this day going by as easy as that, with the increasing numbers of crime, she expected she'd be assigned to a case and she was secretly hoping that would happen. It would be better than this. Just sitting around, waiting for action to happen.

She sipped some coffee, tasting it after adding cream and sugar. It was just how she wanted it and grabbed it to her desk, settling there. Ivy knew a lot was going on, especially with Hank. Her eyes glanced at his empty desk and wondered about the amount of cases that would have cluttered on his terminal. Oh, she would kill for just a look at those.

"You can't do that, Reed"

She moved her head towards the source of the commotion and saw that an officer was standing with Gavin, his voice starting to rise up. She sipped some coffee and leaned back in her seat to enjoy the new entertainment in front of her. What did Gavin want to do now?

"Oh, c'mon! Hank isn't here! The captain isn't here! Let me have it"

Ivy's eyebrows went up with suspense when she heard the word "case". She took one last sip from her coffee and set it down on the desk, standing up.

"Gavin, y-"

"It's not even an android case for fuck sake. Let me have it. I'm here, aren't I? Does that count for nothing no more?"

Ivy walked over and stood behind the man, folding her arms across her chest. She wasn't going to butt in but only wanted to show Gavin that she was here and if he wanted a case, he'll have to learn to share.

"Fine. Only because Anderson isn't here and you tell the captain about this"

"Yeah, yeah. Give me the address"

"Park Street. House number 345"

Gavin walked past the officer and past Ivy. She rushed behind him, wondering if he saw her and ignored her or he didn't. But she knew it had to be the first option. He walked out of the building into the cool winter breeze and walked to his car, getting in. In a second he started the engine and wanted to move but Ivy grabbed his door, yanking it open against the car's movement and falling face first on the passenger's seat. He pushed on the brakes quickly, pulling the car into a stop.

"What is your problem?! You saw me coming and yet you still drove?"

She pulled herself up and positioned herself properly on the seat and closed the door.

"Yeah, you were slowing me down"

"Slowi-" Ivy shook her head "I'm your partner, Gavin. You're supposed to wait"

"Well, I never asked for a partner"

He said calmly but she sensed a hint of annoyance in his voice as he drove out of the station's parking lot, making his way to the crime scene.

"That's not my damn issue. You have a problem? You take it up with Fowler and good luck with that while you're at it"

He didn't reply and only let out a low growl. Ivy rolled her eyes and looked out the window, thinking about the amount of shit she was in. They both rode in silence and they finally made it to the house. There were a few cars left in front of it but the police line remained blocking the entrance. Gavin got out of the car and Ivy followed his lead inside. The house looked cozy and simply decorated, the crime scene investigators looked like they were done sweeping the house and packed their things.

"What do we have here?"

Gavin asked one of them.

"Vic's upstairs in the bedroom. We checked the whole house and there was nothing but his and his son's prints"

"Did you get any info on the son? Where he's staying? Where he was?"

Gavin asked him again and Ivy looked around the living room, noticing a larger man in the kitchen who she recognised as Ben Collins. A fellow detective in the force and walked towards him.

"Yeah, he was here when we came and Ben is questioning him in the kitchen"

"Ben" She called to the man and saw that he was talking to a younger one who looked fresh out of his teens. Deciding not to interrupt anything, she remained silent and stood near the entrance of the kitchen. Ben saw that she was here and gave her a nod to greet her and she acknowledged it with one of her own.

"So, no one was in the house?"

He asked the boy.

"No.. N-no one was in the house. Like I said, he lives here alone"

Ben nodded, scanning the boy in front of him before resuming to speak again.

"Any ideas on who would've done this?"

"No.. None. I don't know. Aren't you supposed to tell me who killed my dad?"

"We're trying, son"

Gavin walked into the kitchen and shot an angry look towards the boy. The vibes he was radiating were nothing friendly and Ivy pushed herself off the wall when he barged in, expecting the worst.

"I say we take this punk in for interrogation. Who knows what the youth would do these days"

"Reed, I didn't expect you to be here"

Collins simply said as a reply.

"Thought I'd surprise you, dear"

Gavin's hand reached to his right hip to grab some handcuffs hanging off his belt and grabbed the boy's hands, forcing him against the fridge.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing? I have rights!"

The boy said in protest but Gavin responded with a rough shove against the fridge. Ivy tried to step in but he pulled the boy off the fridge, holding him firmly from behind and ignoring his grunts of discomfort.

"And I have the right to shut you up, now be a good boy and don't piss me off"

"Gavin! D-"

Ivy started to say.

"Now how about you do something useful while I take this brat to the patrol car"

Gavin said and pushed the boy in front of him, taking him outside. Ivy stood near the entrance, watching the detective walk out with the boy and let out a heavy sigh. The familiar sound of a lighter being flicked made her turn around at Collins to see he was lighting a cigarette. Offering her one but she turned him down.

"You quit?"

"I'm trying to tone down the self destructive habits of mine"

"That's wise of you. I wish I could do the same but sometimes they're the only things that save you from the falling into the abyss that comes with this job."

He was right. It offered great relief and she knew that well. Ivy nodded and walked over to the older man, deciding to change the topic.

"Did we Identify the victim?"

"Hal Gordon. 40 years old. Divorced with two kids. Been living here alone for the past two years. Dead for 4 days before the son found him a few hours ago and called in the murder. Death by strangulation"

"They said they found no prints but his son's and his own"

Collins blew out a cloud of smoke before speaking, making Ivy wish that she'd taken one from him.

"Nothing. Vic's dead in the bedroom, strangled to death. He was on the bed when we found him. No blood, no prints, no signs of a struggle, it was someone he knew. His wallet was on the ground and empty but again, no prints. It's clean as a whistle"

"So, was it a robbery? Maybe our guy was smart and wore gloves?"

"Yeah. That or we're dealing with an android"

"Did he have one?"

"No. But then again he could've had one and it ran away after killing him. We're checking his list of purchases as we speak"

"Great. I'm gonna head up to have a look"

"I'll be down here. Good luck"

"Thanks, Ben"

Ivy walked around to reach the stairs and walked up the steps. There was a corridor with a few doors and she approached them, putting some gloves on her hands then turning the handle on the first one. It was a room with one bed and some posters on the wall, this must've been the boy's room. She moved on to the other room that had more feminine decor and a single bed as well. She scanned the room and found some clothes on the ground which was weird since the room looked tidy, she walked in and opened the closet but nothing that attracted her attention was in there, it just looked like a normal girl's closet. Forensics had left nothing here and she moved on to the main bedroom where the dead body of Hal was found. He was fully dressed and his neck was bruised. Nothing seemed to stand out of the ordinary except the obvious lack of evidence markers in the room. Ivy looked over the victim, trying to find something to work on and moved around the room, scanning it and scanned the drawers. But nothing. She walked to the closet and found a coat hanger on the ground as well. She couldn't make nothing of it since Hal was not a tidy man. She put her hands on her hips and exhaled deeply, feeling grateful that they'd opened a window. 

"I see you started without me"

Gavin said and looked around, perhaps trying to get a look at the crime scene.

"You were busy beating around a kid"

"That might be a vital part of my investigation. I don't see anyone else making progress"

Ivy turned around to face him, tilting her head to the side and raising her eyebrows at him.

"Your investigation? Okay, Gavin, get it through your thick skull. It's not your investigation. It's ours"

"Oh, please"

Gavin said and lifted his hand to his nose, blocking out the smell.

"As long as I'm here. It's not your case, understand? Don't get me wrong, like i said, I'm not too thrilled myself to be working with you, asshole"

"Watch it"

He spat, anger visible on his face. Ivy knew that would piss him off and let out a breath flow out when she parted her lips to flash him an open mouthed smile. She walked towards him and looked up, his eyes were shooting daggers at the shorter woman.

"You first"

Ivy whispered and walked past him, getting out of the room and finally being thankful for moderately clean air. Ben met her in the corridor and she saw that he had finished his cigarette.

"They're coming to take the body if you're done with it"

"Yeah, we're done"

Gavin walked out of the room and stopped to see the two detectives talking. 

"There's nothing here. This case is a dead end. I'll talk to the kid and see where that takes us"

"The kid's a suspect now?"

Ben asked Gavin.

"Anyone on a crime scene before we are is a suspect"

He answered and started to walk downstairs. Ben looked at Ivy, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"Guess I better be present"

Ivy sighed, furrowing her eyebrows in irritation.

"Fowler's done you dirty, huh, Ivy?"

"He has. But there's nothing to do about it now. Should just shut up and take it, who knows, maybe it won't last that long"

"Maybe. Good luck though"

"Thanks, Ben. See you around"

Ivy waved at the detective and walked downstairs and saw Gavin standing near the front door, his arms folded across his chest. When she walked towards the main entrance, he spoke without looking at her.

"You took a while"

"Oh, so, now you wait for me" she retorted.

"God, you're so hard to please"

"Since when do you please anyone but yourself, dickwad?"

Gavin narrowed his eyes at her, looking like he might explode for a second but he didn't. He remained silent. 

"Just get in the car, goddammit"

He said through gritted teeth, gesturing with his head at the car's direction. Ivy facial expression twisted in displeasure and she stepped away from him. 

"No, thanks. I'll walk"

She enunciated slowly, staring at into his grey eyes that were at times like dark clouds threatening of an upcoming storm. But at other times they were calm. This was not one of those other times.

"Suit yourself"

Gavin said and got into his car and pulled away from the curb, glancing at her through the mirror then hiding his eyes behind dark sunglasses he kept in his car and finally drove away. Ben walked out and Ivy wondered if he heard any of that. 

"You want a ride?"

He simply said, not offering any more comments on whether he was present during that fallout. Ivy politely decline and thanked him, he told her to be careful before he drove away. Ivy turned around and walked, thinking that would do justice to her mood. After all it was now noon and a good lunch would probably make her feel better and forget about whatever happened here.


	3. Three

Ivy leaned her head on her palm, watching Gavin verbally abuse the boy they brought in from the crime scene for the past 20 minutes so she turned off the mic, leaving the recorder on to listen to this some other time. He was ruthless how he was trying to extract info from the suspect and Ivy really didn't know if it would work. She let out a yawn as it was now the late afternoon and Gavin had to prove some evidence or he had to let him go and this was his last try at this, so it was understandable that he was giving it everything he got. 

She was starting to wish that she'd gotten enough sleep last night and straightened up, gently massaging her back. Gavin was finishing up with the suspect and told him to get out of here but stay in Detroit if they ever needed to get back to him and added a few unnecessary remarks about how he'd find him if he tried anything. Gavin walked to the back room and glanced at Ivy sitting casually. 

"Something tells me that you got nothing."

She said to him and stood up, feeling thankful to once again use her feet. Gavin let out a scoff and avoided her eyes.

"You heard that part. The one concerning the Eden Club"

He said. Ivy decided to just go along with it, it would be more problematic if she said she hadn't. Eden Club was a good lead but was also a dead end.

"Yeah, I did. But that doesn't make our life easier. If it's from Eden Club, it only means it's an android and that just makes everything more complicated."

"Not if I got this case."

She gazed at him for a while before speaking, resting her hands on her hips. His face was determined and she knew nothing would change his mind now. He might be a prick but his ambitious nature was one of the hallmarks of his personality, she opened her mouth to speak and Ben entered the room, holding a tablet in his hands. She guessed he was here to give updates on the current case.

"Well, we've finally got the list of purchases from the bank and the only interesting one is an android from the Eden Club which was four days ago. But it doesn't stop there, seems our boy liked to enjoy himself. Frequently."

"Yeah, we already got that from his son a couple minutes ago which is definitely before you in any case."

Gavin replied quickly and Ben looked at Ivy as if to get confirmation on what Gavin just said, she casually nodded.

"Well, since you already know that part, maybe I should move to the other topic in mind. The club manager had reported the disappearance of one of his androids and the case was assigned to Anderson so that about sums it up."

"Goddammit."

Ivy said softly, knowing what was coming.

"What? We're done? That's it? We didn't ev-"

Gavin started but Ben knew where he was going so he raised his palm to shut him up.

"You know damn well that you can't keep poking your nose in cases that aren't yours, Reed. If something comes up that isn't assigned to Hank, I'll let you know but in the meantime, you're off this one"

"Hank Anderson is a drunk fuck! He's not even in most of the day and yet he gets the most cases? What kind of bullshit is this?"

"That's the captain's call" 

Ben replied blandly, now looking at his tablet. Ivy sucked in a deep breath, shoving her hands in her pockets as Gavin got worked up about Hank like he usually does.

"Fuck that! You know that captain's only giving him cases be-"

"Don't say something you might regret, Reed"

Ben cut him off, now looking at him with an annoyed expression. Gavin matched his as they both glared at each other.

"It's no damn secret"

Gavin said, raising a challenging eyebrow at the older man who now turned his eyes back to his tablet.

"I'd advise you to watch your mouth before it gets you in a mess that you can't talk your way out of it. Now back off this case"

Ben said, giving the two of them a last look and disappearing out the door, closing it gently behind him.

"Gavin.."

Ivy said softly, looking at the man's back while his hands rested on his hips. His shoulders tensed up the longer he stared at the door.

"Don't Gavin me. You saw that shit. Ugh, fucking Anderson"

"You know he's good at his job. He's just having.. minor setbacks. But I'm sure he'll be back on track again"

"Good at his job?" He repeated in a mocking tone "Only thing he's good at is getting hammered and fucking around while others actually show up to get some work done. But no, I'm the evil prick"

Ivy said nothing, confirming that fact would only get him more pissed and that would just turn into an unforgiving spiral of arguments and instead watched his shoulders slump down for just a second before they tensed up again.

"I'm gonna get some fucking coffee"

He said and walked out, leaving the door open behind him. Ivy sighed and looked around at the empty room and headed for the screen on the glass to enter the details of the interrogation that Gavin had just done and signed for him, dismissed and apologised profusely to the kid, hoping this hasn't traumatised him. She walked out to her office, briefly glancing over at Hank's empty desk. He wasn't here and she thought if he had already left. The steady number at the station was already thinning, between people going home and people staying here a little longer, it was not a large number. Ivy headed to the break room for her resupply with caffeine. Gavin was there pouring a cup and she wondered if it was second one if it wasn't the third. He lifted the cup to his lips and took a few sips, not even minding to look towards her.

"Are you gonna go soon?"

"I gotta fill in some reports before I leave"

"Well, good luck with that" 

Ivy said and poured herself a cup, adding a generous amount of sugar, hoping it would add to the sudden dose of energy the coffee would soon provide. Gavin turned his head to look at her while she stirred her drink.

"Appreciated. But uh.. you're staying here to help"

Her head shot up to look at him, a faint smug look took over his face as he leaned against the counter.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me"

"You must be outta your mind"

Ivy casually laughed and set aside her coffee cup, opening her mouth to speak but Gavin spoke before she could.

"You said you're my partner, yeah? Well, time to prove it. You did say this was our case, or did I hear that wrong?"

She didn't know what to say or how to reply to that. Gavin slowly pushed himself off the counter, taking one last sip of his coffee and throwing the cup in the trash but it missed the bin and bounced away, finally landing on the ground. He didn't pick it up and turned to face her.

"Oh, and my basketball skills seem are getting rusty"

He let out a laugh before leaving the break room. Ivy was thankful she put down her cup or she would've crushed it. She could tell that this was something he started to enjoy. Her eyes moved to the coffee cup on the ground that was just slightly moving near the trash can and reluctantly moved closed to pick it up off the ground and throw it in the bin while clenching her jaw in irritation and left the break room, leaving behind her coffee.

***

A few hours had passed, flooded by the sounds of hushed chatter and the typing on the keyboards. Most of the people had left already and Gavin was nursing a cup of coffee he got from the break room. Ivy leaned on her hand and looked at him. She found herself wondering if he ever got tired.

"How many cups of coffee did you have?"

She asked, her voice low.

"I stopped counting after the third"

He said without lifting his eyes from his screen, taking another sip from his coffee and making Ivy wish she had brought that cup of coffee with her instead of leaving it behind. 

"Are you finished?"

He asked her.

"You need to get your reports in check, Gavin. This took us longer than i expected"

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I taking too much of your valuable time?"

He said, now moving his eyes towards her. 

"You don't have to be a dick about it. What is your problem? I know you didn't want a partner but grow the fuck up"

"Well, I guess you just have to put up with it"

He said. Ivy leaned back to consider how this might be his plan. She tried to approach this calmly but the smug look on his face angered her like no other. The reason in her dispersed as it was no match for the flames of rage.

Like hell" She snapped and leaned in, her anger obvious in her voice "You think I want to be YOUR partner? Who in their right mind would like to be your partner? This is just a bump in a way and I'll fix it. It's not permanent and i'll make sure of it"

"Thank fuck for that"

He sneered, taking a large gulp from his coffee. Ivy narrowed her eyes at him, wishing she could punch him. 

"Asshole"

She said.

"Idiot"

He said without missing a beat.

"You know what? Fuck this and your reports"

Ivy spat and stood up, pushing the keyboard aside. Gavin moved his eyes to look up at her, she could see the challenge in his eyes

"Good, go. Good riddance"

He said and waved his hand to dismiss her. That made her even more angrier and she leaned in, a forced smile plastered on her face.

"It's getting a little hot, right?"

"Wh-"

Before he could respond, she reached out and knocked over his coffee cup off the desk and onto his lap. He quickly stood up as a response and let out a loud groan. 

"Fuck!"

He exclaimed, looking down at his now wet pants. His eyes were now shooting daggers once again, becoming dark with rage. She shot him an innocent smile and shrugged her shoulders softly. He seemed like he struggled with what to say to her and stormed away. She grinned widely, pleased with herself and left her seat to lift up the cup off the ground and her sight fell on Gavin's screen. She put the empty coffee cup down on the desk and focused on the screen in front of her. On it was a report written by Hank in regarding the runaway android from the Eden Club and next to the keyboard was a notepad with notes written on it concerning the report plus a few questions extra questions that were asked by Hank in the interview with Frank Miller. Ivy wondered why Gavin would write questions related to an already finished part of the case but then it was clear. Was he that arrogant, though? Ivy was about to find out.


	4. Four

"Ivy? Ivy? Can you hear me?"

His voice was faint entering her ears. Distant yet so close. She felt her grip on reality become slim the more her shirt felt moist with her blood. Her eyes opened slightly, defying the suffocating grasp that the awaiting darkness had around her. Gavin's face was the last thing she saw before she traded the light for the shadows.

***

The sound of a car pulling over nearby was enough to pull her out of her dream. Not that she was enjoying it, the blast from the past was always an unpleasant one and it still haunted her dreams. Her hands found her eyes, rubbing the sleep away from them and only realising now that she had fallen asleep. It wasn't a real mystery, she hadn't been sleeping well and was solely relying on coffee to keep her running and deep down, she knew she could only keep that up for so long. Luckily for her, Gavin just pulled up near the club's parking lot. She leaned back, making sure he couldn't see her and checked the time. It was only 11:18pm.

Based on the notes he wrote and the fact that he had a copy of Hank's files proved that he was going off record to investigate a case that wasn't his. Ivy knew fully well that if he was caught, the captain would chew him off for that if not put him under close supervision or worse, suspension. Knowing Gavin, he'd hate every second of that. But what he didn't know was that even though they were doing something they shouldn't be doing, getting a look at the files Hank had was something Ivy was dying to do and she wouldn't let it slip by. She didn't know if it was the sense of professional curiosity or just the mere denial of how she was supposed to be working alongside Hank Anderson.

She leaned back in the car's seat, assessing her choices. Being a rat and taking this up with the captain would grant her freedom from Gavin which sounded good but it just meant waiting on the sidelines for some action since she wasn't next in line to be Anderson's partner. She hated to admit it but this was the most action she got in a while and underneath it all, she didn't wanna pull the plug because it seemed getting on Gavin's good side might grant her some access to some classified files. She was breaking some rules, yes, but she couldn't ignore the feeling deep inside her that she could solve the deviancy cases better than an android. It was like a battle of humans against the machines. She had nothing against them but she knew she was far happier when they had store clerk and constructor jobs while having nothing to do with investigating cases with human detectives. She huffed and got out of the car, Gavin had entered the club for some time now and she soon followed suit.

The club was lively at this time of night like it always had been. Capsules of glass stood around the club's only door and the glass' electronic surface gleamed under the blushing lights. She walked in and caught Gavin walking with what she assumed was the manager. Going that way, she was ready for him getting angry over this. 

"Gavin, I thought we agreed on going in together and you go do this? I'm hurt."

Gavin turned to look at her, his features showing the significant amount of surprise he was feeling right now. Ivy took it in as she knew it wouldn't last. And soon after it twisted into anger.

"Oh, great. More cops."

The manager, Floyd Mills, said in displeasure. Gavin was quick to reply.

"Uh, yeah. This is my partner. She shouldn't be here cause' she wasn't feeling too well but hey, look, she's here anyways"

"I suddenly felt better but thank you so much for the concern. Detective Lawton."

Ivy said, smiling innocently at Gavin then looking away to introduce herself to Mills. He looked away as she knew he would.

"Yeah, that's great and all but look, tonight is a busy night, okay? I have a lot of things to tend to."

Mills started to complain, not bothering to acknowledge her introduction and gesturing with his hand at the few androids that were around with customers.

"We won't take much of your time, Mr Mills. Just a few questions and we'll be out of your hair."

Ivy replied casually, catching Gavin's explosive aura calming down at the corner of her eye. She knew had to do so or he would watch this blow up in flames, not benefiting him at all.

"It's just a procedure that we have to do."

Gavin said, folding his arms in front of his chest, clearly not happy with his presence but he tried his best to hide it, but it wasn't working.

"I don't understand, I've said everything there is to say to Lieutenant Anderson that night."

"I'm aware of that," Ivy interjected "But this is basically something new we're trying. We're looking into the case again and let's just say we're retracing our steps, making sure the lieutenant missed nothing as we really do want to know what causes these machines to become deviant and every detail would help. We'd like to thank you in advance for your cooperation but I assure you it won't take long."

Mills took a while to think as he looked around his club, as if everything could go south the minute his eyes left the place. He seemed to be in thought as he didn't reply for a while then looked at the two cops in front of him. 

"Okay, let's talk in my office."

He motioned his hand to urge them behind him as he walked to his office, Ivy moved to follow him but felt her arm being tugged and saw it was Gavin. He didn't look happy, the explosive aura he radiated was back and he let that be known the way he squeezed her arm. She tried tugging it away but his grasp was way too tight.

"Gavin!"

"What the fuck are you doing here? Huh? You here to taunt me?"

"No! Look.. let go of my arm, you're hurting me and besides, we have work now. Whether you wanna admit it or not, the moment that man senses that our presence here is under no orders from up top, he won't talk to us. So be cool, would you?"

Ivy seethed and tried to tug her arm free. Soon after he loosened his grasp and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up. Realising she was right but never admitting it. Without another word, he walked towards Mills office and Ivy was behind him, rubbing her arm.

***

Mills sat on his chair, leaning back and looking at both the officers in front of him. Ivy could sense a little annoyance of this deja vu for him. Gavin decided to begin, he knew the faster they got this over with, the better.

"So, you said the model was a WR-400? Was that the first one to escape?"

"Yeah, to the first part and it was the only one to escape. It was the only one to ever do something like this and I hope it's the last one to do it. If anything, this is bad for me. You know how bad it is for one of my Tracis to be killing customers? I'll go broke in a week, I'll have to shut down this place"

Gavin nodded, thinking of his next move. Ivy decided to take the opportunity to ask.

"Did you talk to CyberLife about this? Report the incidence of a deviant to them?"

Mills leaned back in his seat as he looked at Ivy for a while before answering.

"Yeah, course' I did. This faulty programming is their mistake in the first place. Shit like this won't be happening if they had already figured out what was happening"

"And did you get an answer?"

"Yeah, and a 70% discount off the next model I buy."

"Very generous of them."

Gavin said in an ironic tone, letting a small chuckle escape his lips. Ivy paid no mind to him.

"Look, I'm not trying to get on CyberLife's bad side, okay? That discount was more than convenient for me. As you may have noticed, I rely heavily on them. I take everything I can get"

"Clearly."

Ivy added and pressed her lips in a tight line, catching Gavin writing some notes in the corner of her eye. He really was giving this his all.

"Would that be all?"

Mills said, eager for this to end. Ivy knew it was wise for this to finish earlier than later. 

"Soon Mr Mills. Now did you notice anything strange before this Traci ran away? Anything worth mentioning?"

He leaned back in his chair and turned his eyes to the ceiling to think of his answer. It took longer than she would've hoped. 

"Nothing? Not even strange LED blinks?"

Gavin said, hoping to jog on his memory.

"Nope. It was too sudden. Nothing at all. They all seemed normal to me, nothing out of the ordinary"

Ivy sighed deeply, this was going nowhere from where it picked up, no wonder Anderson wanted nothing to do with this one. Gavin looked at her, she couldn't make out what he meant with that look. She tried thinking of other questions that she would normally ask but this was much different than their normal. No evidence, no prints, nothing left behind for analysis. It was a dead end. Ivy furrowed her eyebrows at him but he turned away as if he refused her thoughts. He was always a mystery to figure out. At least after the academy.

"Have you made precautions on this never happening again?"

Gavin said, looking at his notes then slowly turning his attention the Mills who just stared at him before replying.

"Precautions? I don't know what caused this to act properly to prevent this," Mills said, leaned forwards and put his hands on his desk, not breaking eye contact with Gavin. "Good question, but I think CyberLife could give you a better answer than I ever would"

"True, but you know what's going on here much better than they do. You're around, introducing them to customers and letting them do their business. You should pay attention to your surroundings since you're the manager. Something's triggering these plastic shits and I'm gonna find out what"

Mills paused for a while and what Gavin said had stuck in the silence. Ivy guessed it was absorbed by the cranky manager as he straightened himself in his seat.

"So what do you suggest, detective? You think I should just put cameras in my private rooms? To get a better look at this?"

"I don't care what you do. I just expect you to have better control over your malfunctioning machines before they go on the loose"

"I think we're done here, detective"

"I'll be-"

"Gavin! We're done here. We've retracted the Lieutenant's steps enough and we should get out of Mr Mills' hair. Thank you so much, by the way. You've been great help. Thank you for your time" 

Ivy said, raising her eyebrows at Gavin than proceeding to smile at Mills who thankfully returned the smile and shook her hand. She just hoped this would just go smoothly til they were out of the building. They both walked out of the office and passed the coloured lights and the somewhat entertaining music to the room of glass capsules that led to the exit. Gavin walked quickly like he wanted to get this over with and soon they were both out in the cool breeze of the night.

"What the hell!" Gavin said, the explosive aura making a comeback as he took a few steps towards me. "You stalked me? I cannot believe you stalked me"

"Actually it's this or I'm taking this to the Captain. Look, we can work this out if you let me have a look at Anderson's terminal, I won't even ask how you got access"

"What? Are you blackmailing me?" 

He said, moving back and narrowing his eyes at her. Putting his fingers on his chest when he referred to himself.

"Damn right I'm blackmailing you. You could've saved all this trouble by you cooperating with me, Gavin"

"Like hell"

"Why don't you sleep on it? Or if you're able to sleep at all" Ivy added.

"Do you even have proof?"

"Oh, yeah. Hard proof. Pictures"

Gavin's jaw clenched and he offered nothing else. Ivy knew he was thinking. This was irrational, poorly thought and maybe could be considered stupid but he gave her no choice. She knew that once this reaches the captain, hell will break loose. 

"Okay.." He said calmly and clasped his hands together "But I'd like you to remember that you have participated in whatever is going on here. You've attended my follow-up interview with Mills and know that this won't be forgotten"

"Who'd believe you?"

"Sweetheart, I'll get Mills himself to say that you were here if I'm being investigated. See, if I go down, I'm taking you down with me. Why don't YOU sleep on that" 

Gavin said, his facial expression was stern as was Ivy's. This battle of wits didn't seem to go as any one of them had planned. After that statement, no other words were exchanged. Ivy had went home and laid down in the dark, staring at the ceiling. She had been breaking the rules, true. Putting faith in someone like Gavin was pretty hard, considering their past. She couldn't trust him and that she knew of it. But whether she liked it or not, they were partners and the only way she'd get rid of him is informing the captain of his actions which would only backfire on her, costing her much worse than being partnered up with Gavin. Maybe the choice wasn't that hard.


	5. Five

The next morning Ivy sat an extra 10 minutes in her car, nursing a cup of coffee that was turning cold as a result of her frequent bouts of blanking out. How things were going wildly, how her job could be on the line if Gavin decides to rat or if she rats. Either way, it wasn't looking well and she was heading for a dead end. The only way this could back up from that dead end was to communicate but Ivy doubted that would help. She leaned back in the seat, coffee still in her hand, thinking how it would be so good to just get him in trouble just so his big head could be popped like a zit, but she knew that was wishful thinking. 

Ivy let out a breath as she glanced at the entrance to the station she planned to avoid but she had paperwork to do. The task was nothing to get excited for and while she was stuck in her cloud of boredom, she remembered the excitement of the interrogation last night. That adrenaline is what she missed and what the paperwork was numbing. She didn't realise how much she missed it til the rush hit her hard. Ivy lifted the cup to her lips and was greeted by the cold liquid she had forgotten. Horrified, she moved it away from her mouth and sighed at it then put it in the cup holder. 

She looked at the rear-view mirror to assess the damage of not getting enough rest and so far it was minimal. Dark circles were beginning to show around her eyes. Getting enough rest was supposedly on the top of her list but there was too much to think about, too much to remember, too much of everything. Its grip was strong and it made her want to have a drink. Ivy promised herself that she wouldn't go back to that, it was a dark period of her life that almost damaged her career. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she decided to get out, thinking that maybe for now, she wasn't her own best friend.

Inside, everything was calm as it always was, slight chatter and the smell of freshly brewed coffee lingered around the room, and that alone gave her the dose of caffeine she needed. She made her way to her desk and saw that Gavin was already there and typing into his desktop. Despite everything, he was dedicated and she would give him that. She sat down and fired up her computer in silence, not wanting to say anything that wasn't needed. 

"No "good mornings" or snarky words today?"

He asked from behind his monitor, she couldn't make out if he was serious or not. But still he felt the need to amusingly poke everyone around him for fun and he was known for that.

"Well, It's good to know that you're in a good mood today."

"Great mood, actually. But you're late."

"Yeah, no shit. Stayed up all night thinking if I should feed you to Fowler and maybe come out of this unharmed and still keep my job."

Ivy said in a monotonous tone. Gavin paused a little before replying, she saw him turn left and right before talking. Was he being paranoid now?

"Hey, can I talk to you?"

He said and stood up, not interested if she had a protest to his statement. She saw that he was wearing a v-neck that complimented his torso quite well and he had taken off his leather jacket today. She mentally kicked herself for thinking that about her arch nemesis and followed him near the bathrooms, perhaps considering that the whole arch nemesis thing was a children and cartoon thing. Then he walked in and urged her inside, She stood out the door, refusing to walk inside and widened her eyes at him, speaking in a hushed whisper.

"This is the men's bathroom."

She said, exaggeratedly pointing at the sign near the door as if it wasn't clear at first. 

"I can't exactly enter the women's bathroom."

"Why does it have to be a bathroom!"

"Because," He said and slapped the door of each stall individually with the palm of his hand, looking underneath to make sure it was empty "At least I know this place is completely empty this time of day, so come on so we can get this over with and we can pretend to enjoy the rest of this miserable day" 

Ivy hesitantly walked inside, looking around as if this room was off limits for her as a female. Gavin put his hands together and she knew that he was pleased he made her enter into the men's bathroom.

"What do you want? What is it?"

"Look, I was serious. I will screw you if you screw me, Lawton." 

He said in a tone that could be considered angry but surprisingly kept calm but he took a few steps forwards, stepping in her personal zone to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Whoa, whoa. No one's screwing anyone."

She said, putting her hands up in protest to his sudden closeness.

"Then what was that out there?"

"Nothing. You just pissed me off."

"Look, this topic is off limits. I don't care if you're pissed or even on the verge of death. This could cost me everything. I don't want that. I can't have that, okay?"

"This is what I wanted to talk to you about. How about we just throw this behind us and never mention it again? Honestly, if this goes on our records, it would pretty much be a stain we won't get rid of easily."

Ivy said quickly as in effort of him not cutting her off til she finished. Wanting to really work on the communication bit of their relationship.

"I'd love not to mention it again."

He simply said, clearly stating his point again. their conversation was cut short when a man walked in and Gavin put up a hand immediately at his direction as if to show him that the bathroom was off limits because for now it served as their meeting hall with lots of urinals.

"What? I need to take a leak, man."

The man said, obviously desperate for the release. Ivy decided not to butt in since this wasn't her place anyways. 

"Get out, we're talking."

"What th-"

The man started to voice his protest then Gavin took out his gun and pointed it at the man who jumped in surprise and decided it was better to hold it than get shot in front of a bathroom. He hurriedly stepped out, closing the door behind him.

"Wow, a little longer and I thought you would've done him a favour and he'd piss himself right there."

She said, her words made Gavin look her way with amusement was on his face. 

"You know what? I thought so too."

He smiled smugly, putting the gun back in its holster. She looked up at him, thinking maybe this was the quietest moment They've shared together. Wanting to capitalise on that, Ivy followed up.

"Let's just work together. Like partners. Exactly how we're supposed to. And maybe keep our secrets between us and only between us, so some of us can sleep at night?"

"What are you talking about, I sleep very well."

"Least one of us did."

"Oh, okay. You do look a little tired but then again, you look like this everyday so I didn't really notice a difference."

"Okay! Very funny, Gavin."

He laughed that off, looking quite pleased with himself. Not bothering to actually be a decent person and quit pointing out flaws like a preschooler but that was just him.

"So if this is over.."

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

Gavin said and made his way to the door, opening it. Ivy followed him, pleased that she was leaving this place. But suddenly he stopped walking and she almost bumped into him in the process. Curious to why he stopped, she moved to the side and saw that Chris was standing there, looking at them.

"Chris. Hey, I was just taking a leak and she just stepped into there like she owns the place. Crazy, yeah?"

"Yeah... Crazy. Anyways, Captain wants us in the briefing room. And something tells me he'd like to see the two of you there in time."

Chris said slowly, narrowing his eyes. Ivy moved aside, trying to act cool but that meant she had to confirm what Gavin just said. 

"I'll be right there. Just need to get something."

She said quickly, thinking it was best to leave this with a bit of dignity. Ivy excused herself and walked to the break room. Once she got there, she opened the fridge to check out what was inside but she knew she wasn't hungry, she just leaned on the fridge door, hoping that the cold air coming from the fridge would help her calm down the fight going on inside of her. Being professional was something she'd always go for but in light of the fire that just started burning after all those years. She promised herself that her personal feelings won't ever come in the way of her career and she knew she had to put up a battle for that sake. One she wasn't ready for. But now she had to worry about what the captain had to say.


	6. Six

Ivy leaned against the far corner of the briefing room, hoping that her position there would be a clear answer for anyone wanting to exchange small talk. There was chatter in the room, a group nearby was talking about a recent football match and were discussing details and players she never heard of. She wasn't a football kind of person or any kind of sport, not that she wasn't interested but because of how she never would have any time for it. 

Her eyes caught Gavin leaning on the wall near the door, he didn't look at her and it was as if he was lost in a distant land. Maybe somewhere where things would go as planned and not be this messy. But Ivy guessed that he would definitely be the hero of his own world. After all, who wouldn't want that?

The captain walked in the room without a word. He was holding a couple files under his arm and a cup of coffee he must've gotten from the break room. He made his way to the podium and set down the folder and coffee then took a moment to look at the people present in the room. He seemed calm today and Ivy wondered if this would continue on til the end of this. 

"Morning. Hope you're all doing well today."

He said as a starter, scanning his surroundings for the last time before setting his eyes down on the files. Ivy glanced around and wondered if Fowler was looking for someone. Expecting them to be there. At that moment, she noticed that Anderson wasn't there and she knew Fowler knew that now.

Fowler started to talk about the deviants, discussing new procedures to handle the growing popularity of deviancy among the machine population. He talked about how Anderson would be mainly handling that and all the others will be on call but only until Anderson arrived, him arriving would end their jurisdiction on the case. His eyes moved to Gavin when he said that, making it subtly noted for the stubborn detective who only could roll his eyes to that. He then assigned cases to other detectives and told the others who didn't get any they would be getting some very soon. 

"I want to make it very clear that you will only take the cases I give you. As always I do not care for your opinion whether you like it or not. You will do it since that is your job. Our duty is to serve and protect, people. And I can't have the whole precinct go on this wild goose chase for something we don't quite understand yet. There are still humans living in our world and they need someone to look out for them as well. Don't forget that."

He paused for a second, sipping some of his coffee. Ivy turned her head to glance at Gavin who didn't seem happy with what the captain just said. She didn't expect him to.

"I assume I made myself clear?" He paused, letting his eyes roam around the faces in the room to make sure everybody understood. Fowler cleared his throat and opened the manilla folder and shuffled some of its contents around before speaking again. "Now that since that is out of the way, I would like to discuss another topic. I know we haven't dealt with partners for a while but for the sake of having momentum on any upcoming investigations, that's how it's gotta be. Now, I've already paired some of you. But let me just put it out there and say that I will not accept childish reasons. Last I checked, this wasn't preschool so if your reason is that you can't work with this individual then don't even waste your time coming to my office to hear what you will hear now. I will not switch your partner and you will spend your time learning what you should've learned in preschool which is sharing."

There was silence in the room after that. Ivy wondered if there were others who were also partnered up that randomly as she was with Gavin. The other detectives just looked at each other but offered nothing in return.

"Capta-"

Gavin started but Fowler held a hand up which shut the detective up. Apparently Ivy was wrong, Gavin had something to say about that. She felt a little disappointed because she actually thought she had made progress with him. Perhaps to him, this was temporary. Should she feel bad she tried to make it work? She knew she shouldn't. It was only professional. But maybe that's what she should keep reminding herself with. This was only temporary.

"Reed, if this is about your partner, I believe I cleared that up for you. You know? Just for you."

That seemed to put an obstacle in Gavin's pace as it got him silent. But since this was him, it was only for a minute before he jumped over that and regained his speed.

"What about the cases, Captain? I believe I deserve the deviant cases and not Anderson."

"We've also talked about this numerous times. It's not that I don't believe in your abilities, Reed. It's that I think Anderson is a better fit and no offence, he has more field expertise. This a sensitive case and I can't afford you running around like a loose cannon which I know would happen for sure."

Fowler paused and moved his eyes to Ivy. She was taken aback by that, wondering why he chose to look at her at that moment. A thought crossed her mind, and at that moment, it seemed like it all made sense. At least in Fowler's world. She swore she could've seen him nod subtly but wasn't sure since he looked down at the papers in front of him. 

"I will soon be giving you case files that I want some progress on. Dismissed."

He said, gathering the papers in the manilla folder he brought with him. He made sure they were secure and picked them up with his hand this time, heading for the door but stopped when he was nearly out the door, turning his eyes towards Ivy in a look that she knew meant something.

"I would like to see you in my office, Lawton."

He said and stepped out of the room, some detectives made low sounds to tease Ivy because she was called to the captain's office. She responded by rolling her eyes and leaving the room, eyes meeting Gavin's when she passed him. Ivy thought of stopping to say something but couldn't think of anything, and he didn't look like he was in the mood. She was the first to turn away, making her way to Fowler's office. The blinds on the large ceiling-to-floor glass windows were shut which either meant there was something he wanted to keep inside or to avoid the people on the outside. She walked to the door and reached out to turn the knob but heard indistinct arguing and soon the door was pulled open. Hank Anderson stood there and moved past the smaller woman with no other words. She just stood there in surprise before Fowler noticed her and waved her in with a heavy sigh. 

"Uh, Captain... If this is a wrong time I ca-"

"No, come in. It's a good time."

She obliged and closed the door behind her, stepping in front of his desk. Ivy remembered the last time she was in here and how badly it went. She thought if she'd play it out differently, would there be a better outcome. 

"I called you in here because I heard you and Reed took a case recently."

He said, his eyes not on her and was instead clearing some papers off his desk, putting them in an order he only knew about. Ivy felt her heart drop to her stomach and her whole body felt cold. She had the feeling he wanted to draw something out but had no idea if he wanted her to know that he knew something. She decided to step around this trap but not step on it. Yet. 

"Yeah, Hal Gordon. We were free so we went and checked out the crime scene."

Fowler smoothed out the papers on one side of his desk and leaned back to check the screens mounted on his walls. He put a hand on his face with the thumb pressing on his cheek, his palm covering his mouth and turned to finally look at her. Ivy hoped she managed to keep out of the trap or at least not set one off.

"And what did you find?"

"Nothing of significance. No means of identification of the attacker and insufficient evidence to speed this case to new tracks. It's a dead end, if I may say."

"What about the boy that got checked in for interrogation?"

"That was Gavin, sir."

She said, only offering that part. The less she said, the better in case the worst had happened. Her mind ran back to last night where they walked on forbidden grounds, danced on it, more like.

"Well, it says here it was linked to a case that was Anderson's. The runaway android from the Eden Club."

"Indeed. We were told to drop the case."

"And did you?"

Ivy inhaled a deep breath, if he had something in mind, he had set his trap and now was waiting for her to fall right on it. His eyes were on her again, scanning her face. Ivy was at a crossroads, between retaining the spark that would sure ignite the flames that would melt the ice off her relationship with Gavin and lying to the captain. The consequences of telling it how it was would sure be dire. 

"Yes, sir. I asked Gavin to let go of the boy and signed it off."

"It's good that you had him let go," He said, leaning back in his seat but keeping his eyes on her "I have a question for you, Lawton. Are you working well with him?"

"We have our differences and I didn't want this. Hone-"

"Just answer the question."

Ivy felt as if she was standing under a bright interrogation light that was heating up her body temperature. 

"Somewhat."

There was an uncomfortable silence after she spoke. Did he manage to sniff out her bullshit?

"Do you know why I picked you?"

"No, sir. Why?"

"Because you were in the academy together. Sure I could pair anyone with him but still, it won't be like someone he knows."

He said, looking down at his desk at what she assumed were old records of her starting years on the force. The memory triggered a mixed range of emotions in her gut. She never spent time thinking of the past. She just shut it off. 

"See, I know that Gavin is.. insufferable. But he's a good detective who's just spending his free time rivalling with Anderson. He doesn't need some old timer to acknowledge him, or tell him what to do. Besides, even if they do, he won't listen. But if he would, he would learn a thing or two. He has a lot to learn before he can be where Anderson is and so do you. If he won't learn from us elders out of pride, perhaps he'd learn a thing or two from you and maybe you from him. It will be a good experience and I hope that you understand that. Sometimes police work isn't comfortable but I can assure you, it always comes out with something. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad but you never know. But as captain here, I hope it's good and I will ensure it's good."

Ivy nodded, choosing to remain quiet. As much as she wanted to disagree, she knew he was right. This confirmed her feeling about Fowler putting her on babysitting duty to watch Reed.

"I'm assigning you two to robbery and homicide. Like I said, you'll be getting case files."

"Yes, sir."

She said, finally finding her voice. She wanted to get out of there now. 

"Now I know you're better than this. You both are. If my two nieces can share a doll after they fight over it, I'm sure you can too. Dismissed."

Ivy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and walked to the door, opening it and walking outside, closing it behind her. Talking to the captain was not an option anymore. She went down the few steps near the captain's office and saw Gavin leaning on the nearby wall. Once he saw her, he made his way over. 

"Why did he say? You know what, let's talk in the break room."

"No, let's do it in the car."

"The car?"

"Yeah. Let's do it in mine."

She walked hurriedly towards the exit, looking behind her to make sure Gavin followed. Once out of the station, she felt like someone had their hands around her throat, she thought if it was because of the close encounter with Fowler. She got in her car but didn't turn on the ignition. Her keys chimed in her hand as she waited for Gavin to get in. 

"What's all this about?"

"Look, I think Fowler knows."

She said, deciding to just jump into it with no introductions.

"What? How? You didn't squeal, did you?"

"Grow up, would you? You know I'm neck deep in this shit. I'd only be drowning myself there. But I think you need to ditch Anderson's terminal."

She said and looked towards him, the words seemed to annoy him.

"I can't do that."

"What do you expect? You solving one of those cases would make you look some sort of hero and give you a medal? No. What if they know you've got access to his terminal? Huh? Then what? Look, this was wrong from the start."

"Hey, you weren't even a part of this. You just stuck your nose in this and now you're acting like you're one of the founding members."

"And I don't wanna be a part of this! I wanted this at first, I won't lie. But it won't work if Fowler is onto you or me. It has to go, we have to start taking cases the old fashioned way," Her voice raising a little bit but ultimately finding her peace again. "Gavin, for the love of all that's worth your time, you need to pull the plug. Please."

He didn't reply, he just sat and looked at the station in silence. He looked like he was turning things over in his mind or just shocked that Ivy used the word 'please' when talking to him. Ivy bit her lip as she looked over towards him. She just wanted to get rid of this problem because her mind was too tired to handle this and she didn't want to think about anymore. She just wanted to go anywhere and get some air. He was still silent.

"You'll get other cases and you'll focus on them. It doesn't have to be the android cases. You hate them anyways."

She tried again, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. Hoping he would be listening.

"You want me to pull the plug? This wasn't easy. Getting his files, I mean."

"You don't need his files, Gavin. You don't need to stand in his shadow to prove yourself. It's too risky now to even look at that thing. This was just a warning. If you go and fool around with that terminal and get caught red handed, Fowler will not go easy on you."

Gavin chose to remain silent again. She knew he was thinking about it but hoped he'd come around. He had to. If it wasn't for himself it was for her, If he went down for this, she knew sooner or later that it will come back to her for her small involvement that night.

"Okay, fine. You got me."

"Great. Look, I gotta get home and get some stuff I forgot. Can you pick up the case file and update me?"

She said, knowing that she practically gave him the wheel on this. Ivy hoped that would be enough to keep him occupied until she got back and regretted this. But for now, she wanted him to go. 

"Sure thing. But if you take long, I'll have this thing solved without you."

He said with a smirk but now she had no response for it. Her face remained blank for now.

"Great, okay. I'll catch up with you later."

Gavin got out of the car and closed the door behind him. Ivy started the car and watched him head to the station without looking back. It was just like deja vu. Like how he was back then, walked away without looking back. Ivy felt a tingle of anger in her chest but didn't give in to it, that was a matter for another time. She pulled out of the parking lot and into the street, driving away.


End file.
